regardless of where a team is on the success cycle, every team is going to have answer the same question this winter. This question hangs over the evaluation of nearly every player in the big leagues, and will impact both what kinds of players a team will acquire, how they value them, or whether they feel their internal options are as good as what they can bring in from the outside. And this question has little to do with each player’s own abilities, yet might have a big impact on their expected performance.

In all 30 front offices, the off-season plan will be significantly impacted by one big variable: what kind of baseball should they expect to play with in 2018 and beyond?

Derek Jeter-led Marlins parted ways with scout while he was in hospital after undergoing cancer surgery.

The Miami Marlins let go of a longtime scout in need of a kidney transplant as he lay in the hospital days after undergoing colon cancer surgery, the latest in a series of questionable decisions made by the organization under the stewardship of newly installed CEO Derek Jeter.